ABSTRACT
One must be careful not to equate epic with allegory, despite the presence of allegorical characters in epics. There is, however, a middle way between epic, with its plethora of allegorical characters, and the novel. The discourse of the poor women, as detailed by the narrator, may at first not sound appropriate to their station in life; but the overall impression is one of reality. Bunyan knows that these women are "far above, out of his reach". He senses, however, the joy underlying their conviction of their own unworthiness. Readers of the novel, as it has developed throughout the centuries since Bunyan's time, are not always in the state of suspense which would be their portion if they indeed did not know whether the protagonist would reach the goal set out for him or her by the conventions of the genre.
